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generosity or the quality of charity is the natural attribute of the soul and being the nature of the spirit it is its dharma. It is for this reason that when the feeling of possessiveness is fully destroyed and the totally detached state is reached then no feeling of myness for anything remains and everything that one has - his body, mind, speech, etc do not remain for one's own self only but become everyone's. It is so because such a detached soul has nothing to gain and nothing to enjoy from anything around him. In such a state all his activities become devoted to general weal and the feeling of infinite generosity manifests itself. That is why the fully detached omniscient Lords Jina are said to be infinitely charitable.
If the feeling of generosity or charity were to be karma-bonding, the progressive spiritual accomplishments of any aspirant, which result in greater and greater giving, would be more and more karma bonding and the ultimate intinite spiritual accomplishment of the fully detached Lords Jina would be intinite bonding and they ought never to have liberated. If charity resulted in the destruction of any of the natural attributes of a spirit, then it would have prevented the detachment of the aspirant forever.
If there is a difference between an animal and a human being, it is in respect of generosity only. Where there is generosity, there is humanity. One who is devoid of generosity and humanity may be a human look alike but by nature he is an animal only. Therefore, where there is no humarit. there is no human being either. and the one who is not a human being is not entitled to liberation itself. Only human beings are entitled to liberation. The reason being that in the absence of humanity the qualite, like righteousness, restraint. penance, right knowledge. right vision and right conduct are also not possible. As a seed cannot grou uithou soil so the plant of dharma cannot grow without the soil of charts signifying the generosity and humanity. It is for this reason thai charity has been assigned the first place in the order of importance of the four constituents of dharma.
Another reason for according primacy to chanty is that all other saintly virtues like righteousness, restraint, penance, right knowledge,
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